


Brief Lives

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-26
Updated: 2008-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-06 23:34:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You get what everyone else gets. You get a lifetime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brief Lives

**Author's Note:**

> For bugchicklv's [Porn-A-Thon Challenge](http://bugchicklv.livejournal.com/219190.html) on LJ. My prompt was submission, my kink was frottage.

Everyone seemed to assume that the real world was the physical one, the tangible existence where Serenity coasted in a near vacuum, a thin metal skin protecting its occupants from the incredible cold of deep space. Everyone assumed that the real world was made up of jobs and credits and protein mash, skipping from one world to the next trying to make ends meet. It was repetitive, the endless day in and day out of flying to a job and eking out a living. They were seeing more and more of the border worlds realize that the Alliance could be dangerous. More and more worlds realized that Blue Sun was dangerous. More and more worlds were beginning to think for themselves, to question, to understand that perhaps bowling over and exposing their bellies to the government was not a good thing.

River would say this was one world. She lived another, in the hours between shifts. It would be a twilight existence, had they been planetside, but they drifted through the endless black of the 'verse, and there was no such thing as twilight any longer.

That was just as well. Darkness suited her purposes.

She was put together into a shape that was more coherent and something more akin to her brother's taste. She appeared normal. She appeared in control. He was appeased, backing off on the meds a bit. He allowed her to take pills instead of injections, and he finally stopped dogging every step she took when off the ship. Simon seemed close to proposing to Kaylee, which was the way it should be. His attentions should be shifted from her to himself once again, and she didn't want the weight of his gaze upon her.

Especially at night. She didn't want him questioning her nocturnal activities.

She carried another life within her mind, a shadow life. This ghost life seemed almost painfully vivid in the darkness between shifts, in the dim lowlight of the sleep cycle. The distant hum of air recyclers was counterpoint to the fevered breath in the bunks below her feet as she walked from the bridge. The others never questioned that River liked to stay on the bridge after they went to bed. They thought it was a quirk, a harmless place she would sit with her thoughts and try to figure out what to do with herself.

River was counting down the minutes. She was waiting for one life to end, for another to begin.

It had started slowly. Most good things did, if she thought about it clearly. There were signs there, the power in her step that was just waiting to be tapped. Taking down Reavers had been nothing, had been an exercise in grace and deadly accuracy. Her blood had been singing, her mind pure of purpose. River was protecting those she loved, her true family, the signal that would set her soul free.

Jayne, who adored all things that were weapons, had been entranced with the concept. And really, no one had suspected his deep need for stability and control. Well, more accurately, the others would guess wrongly that he needed to control others.

It had been an awkward dance, but now the steps were memorized to perfection. He knew his place, he knew the role to play in this midnight masquerade. He was more than ready for this life to begin, hadn't realized it was possible. He would deny it in the day, but revel in the lowlight as it happened.

River climbed the ladder down into Jayne's bunk, bare feet silent on the smooth metal. Jayne was ready, as he always was. This was their little secret, twice a week at the minimum. River paused at the foot of the ladder, taking in his pliant, naked state. "I did not specify that you should be naked this time." Her voice was cold, almost clinical as she slipped into her other life as easily as she slipped in and out of lucidity. "I had said at dinner that you should wait for me as you were, and I meant _as you were."_

Jayne's lip barely quivered, but River could still sense it. "Mistress, I did not think to anger you."

"I did not say I was angry." River stepped forward, loose dress hanging down around her otherwise naked body. Simon would be scandalized if he knew, but he considered his crazy sister to be all but sexless beneath the shapeless dress. "You presume too much, slave."

He flinched at the reprimand. "Mistress..." he began, a slight whine in his pleading tone.

River snapped her fingers and he lapsed into silence. "Very good, slave." She nodded her approval and stepped closer. His form was lying still on the bed, limp and flaccid and waiting for her command. She was a good Mistress if he fell into line, but every once in a while he tested his limits. She didn't allow topping from the bottom, not even in minutiae. He might protest, but she knew that he gloried in her attention to detail, that she kept the fine lines of the rules razor perfect. He needed that kind of control, that kind of ruthless precision. He exerted that control over himself the rest of the time, and it was a comfort to let someone else take the reins and let him rest once in a while.

"You must still be punished," River said, her voice whisper soft but still cracking across the silent bunk. Jayne's nod was all but imperceptible, but she could feel the weight of his ready acceptance. He needed this, he wanted this. He wanted to submit to her discipline, he wanted to feel her control over him.

River straddled his naked form and made a clucking sound when he lifted his hands. "No, slave. You are not to move, not to touch. I will take and you will get nothing until I see fit to gift you with release. _Do you understand?"_

Jayne cleared his throat nervously. "I can't move? Can't touch nothing?"

"Nothing," River clarified. She shifted position once she was sure that she had his full attention and cooperation. These lives they shared only worked if they were in perfect unison; they didn't even have safe words anymore.

River straddled one muscular thigh, the flimsy dress the only thing separating his skin from hers. She tensed her lithe muscles as she settled into a comfortable position on all fours above him. He bit his lip at the contact, his thigh tensing somewhat. While it felt good against her clit, it also broke the rules. River made an angry hissing noise. "Slave, I told you not to move." Jayne made a soft whimpering noise as he forced his body to relax beneath her. "That is the state you must remain in. This is how I want you."

River began to rock her hips against his thigh, rubbing her clit. It took a bit, but she found a steady rhythm. River kept her eyes on Jayne's face, his slack lips and his yearning eyes. He wanted to touch her, he wanted to move so badly. He wouldn't dream of doing so until she gave him permission, until she ordered him to move. River rocked against his thigh, pleasure building up slowly. It was agonizingly slow, a lazy climb to a peak that felt so far away. She tilted her hips just a bit more, opening her thighs just a bit wider. Ah, there, that was it. There was the contact she needed against her clit, the slick, sticky wetness making her dress cling to his bare skin. She resisted the urge to throw her head back as she moaned, wanting Jayne to watch her taking pleasure in his thigh. She wanted him to see her, to watch the pleasure mount even higher. She wanted him to hear each noise, each moan, each sigh. River's breath came in short gasps, panting, just shy of mewling. She was close, getting closer, her clit sliding slickly across the damp fabric pressed to his thigh.

When she finally came, she tensed abruptly before shuddering and bucking her hips. She had clenched her jaw to keep from crying out, her eyes falling shut. The pent-up breath came out of her lungs in a rush, her arched spine loosening as she uncurled like a cat.

"Please, Mistress," Jayne mewled almost pitifully. "Let me give you more."

River bent down and kissed his lips almost gently, then stood up and stretched. The damp spot on her dress was plain to see, and her lips curled into a delicate smile. "No, my slave. I told you that you could not move tonight, and I meant it." River watched him resist the urge to clench his fists and gave him a nod of approval. She was tempted to go to her own bunk and sleep away the rest of the night. It was well within her rights as his Mistress, and she didn't have to allow him any release tonight.

But she was keyed up now, riding high on the edge of an orgasm. She could afford to be generous, just this once.

River lifted the skirt of her dress as she clambered up onto the bunk. She straddled his waist, his erect cock inches from her wet slit. "Are you going to be a good slave from now on? Hm? Will you obey your Mistress in every command?"

"I will do whatever you wish," Jayne told her in husky tones. "Mistress, my only aim is to please you in every way."

"Then you will do what I say, slave. You will follow every command to the letter."

"Your every wish," Jayne nearly sobbed. "Always to please you."

River sank down onto his waiting cock, feeling her body stretch to accommodate him. She sighed in pleasure, loving the feel of him inside of her. Jayne made a soft choking noise, but kept to his word and stayed perfectly still as she began to ride him. Her hips rocked against his, and she was holding on to his thighs, her back bent backward slightly. She allowed herself the luxury of closing her eyes to revel in the feel of him, the length and breadth of his cock as she flowed over him like honey. "You can't come, my slave," she panted. "Not until I tell you to."

"As you wish, Mistress," he said, voice strangled. He wanted to clench his fists in the sheets, something, anything, but wasn't allowed to. He couldn't even tense his body, and he longed to touch her with a need that was almost painful.

River moved faster, steady long strokes over his cock as she approached her climax. Jayne would be as good as his word, and he would follow her command to the letter if it killed him. She could feel her body clench around him, her inner muscles fluttering and working him. Faster, faster, the stronger strokes sending waves of pleasure shooting down to the soles of her feet. Her toes curled against the sheets and her fingers clenched tightly around his thighs. _More, more, so close, almost there..._

River came with a strangled cry, and she shuddered around his cock. She let go of his thighs and slowed to a stop. Her breath was ragged, her hair falling down around her face. She could feel his cock, still hard and rigid inside her, coated and slick with her juices. "My slave is a good one now," she murmured.

"Yes, Mistress," Jayne told her dutifully. There was longing in his voice, and his eyes were pleading with her. "Anything for you."

She smiled at him sweetly as she got up. Her thighs were sticky with her juices and she would have to completely wash herself before bed. She smelled of sex and longing and lust, and it would shatter poor Simon to pieces to discover this other life within her. River touched Jayne's face tenderly, tracing the edge of his trembling lip. "This is good, my slave. Your punishment for tonight's disobedience will be to lie there, unable to touch yourself or relieve this feeling. You will remember this for some time, won't you?" Jayne made a strangled frustrated sound, but soon enough nodded his compliance. "Good. I don't wish to punish you, my slave. But sometimes you force my hand and I must implement the rules. We have a system here, and it must be obeyed to the letter. This will help you remember."

Jayne nodded again and blinked rapidly. "Yes, Mistress. I beg your forgiveness."

"Obey my command, and you will have it."

"I won't move," he murmured, his voice strangled with barely suppressed need. "I'll show you that I can be good. I can deserve your touch again."

River's lips curled into a soft, loving smile. She caressed his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. "Of course you will, my slave. And if you last tonight's punishment, I can reward you tomorrow night, ahead of schedule." She chuckled at his startled look. "I am not a cruel Mistress, my slave, just exacting."

"Yes, Mistress," Jayne told her gratefully. He turned his head enough to press a kiss to her palm, then turned back to his former pose. "I'll be good for you."

River made her way to the ladder of his bunk. "Of course you will. I expect you to."

She disappeared into the dim lowlight of the rest of the ship. She was just River again, the Mistress in her shoved back down into a secret place. She trusted that the slave in Jayne would be good, and they could both briefly come out to play again. It was the only thing that made her long sleepless nights bearable, the only thing that helped to keep her frayed nerves intact. She had a modicum of control then, and they each gave each other what they needed. It didn't matter if the others wouldn't understand. It worked, and it helped.

Her sleep was deep and dreamless.

The End


End file.
